Dave Gilkes Photography

New Website

2011-02-10T15:31:00.000Z

I have a new website being designed by Big Folio and it will be launched very soon.

Watch this space!

New Blog Launched 07/02/2011

2011-02-08T18:27:00.000Z

I launched my new blog on 7th February 2011 and all future updates will be posted at:

http://davegilkes.wordpress.com

Repatriation

2011-02-04T20:12:00.004Z

Standard Bearers of the Royal British Legion honour Private Martin Simon George Bell, 24, of the 2nd Battalion The Parachute regiment, who died on Tuesday 25 January 2011 in Afghanistan.

I attended the repatriation of Private Martin Simon George Bell yesterday, as his body was taken to the Coroner's Office at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

It was attended by members of the Royal British Legion and the public who, turned out to show their support for a young soldier who, laid down his life to help make the world a safer place.

Smoke Trails Revisited

2011-01-30T18:24:00.005Z

As I had the weekend off, I thought I would try my hand at creating images with smoke again. Very pleased with the results.

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T09:53:00.001Z

I wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope 2011 grants all your wishes.

Trafalgar Day Parade 24 October 2010 Banbury

2010-10-24T17:36:00.005+01:00

A selection of images from the Banbury Sea Scouts Trafalgar Day Parade on 24 October 2010.

Aquatech Rain Covers

2010-10-04T10:45:00.003+01:00

I worked for DE Photo on Sunday at Grove RFC, in some of the worst weather I have ever worked in. My waterproof clothing could not contend with the rain, walking between pitches was treacherous due to the amount of mud and trying to photograph the matches whilst keeping the lens clean proved arduous.

However, my Aquatech Rain Cover kept my camera and lens perfectly dry throughout the entire day. Yes, it was expensive but, yesterday proved it is worth every penny and one of the best purchases I have made.

Sunset

2010-09-29T21:00:00.001+01:00

Saw this view on my way home this evening and I just had to stop the car and capture the scene.

Good job I always have a camera with me.

Marketing Material

2010-09-28T14:52:00.001+01:00

Today, I am designing my new marketing material and will post my designs on here.

Thank God for backing-up

2010-09-23T11:50:00.000+01:00

I had a complete computer crash on Monday and I had to reformat the hard drive to correct the fault.

Thankfully, I back-up my work on a regular basis and have been able to re-instate all my files.

Lesson learnt - have a scheduled back-up system in place.

Make-up Artist

2010-09-15T11:53:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, I had a very promising talk with a local Make-up Artist, Charlotte Carey of http://www.makeupbycharlotte.com.

I am a step nearer being able to offer clients a professional hair and make-up service with their portraits.

Website Update

2010-09-14T15:29:00.002+01:00

I updated my website with a slightly different layout.

My aim was to make it easier for potential clients to view each section more quickly and easily.

I have also replaced the older images with some new, fresh ones.

Martin Grahame-Dunn Training Course

2010-08-17T12:03:00.005+01:00

I attended a training course on portraiture run by Martin Grahame-Dunn yesterday, where we concentrated on posing and short lighting techniques.

I came away with a new appreciation of, how a highly experienced and talented professional photographer can produce wonderful portraits, in a short period of time, whilst keeping the subject's attention fully engaged.

Here are my best 3 images from the day.

Banbury Star Time Trial

2010-07-21T21:50:00.004+01:00

A small selection of cycling images I took today.

It has been far too long since I photographed cycling and thought I would give it another try tonight.

I am very happy with the images today - by far my best cycling images to date.

South West Photo Mounts

2010-07-21T12:43:00.002+01:00

Today, I visited South West Photo Mounts Limited as they were displaying their product range in a hotel near to me.

A fabulous range of products and their customer service, persuaded me to include their Jorgensen Studio Collection in my product range and I purchased a set of sample products to show prospective clients.

An excellent and productive day.

Minster Lovell and FiresSecret

2010-06-03T19:24:00.004+01:00

I had the priviledge of photographing professional model, FiresSecret, yesterday at the 15th Century ruins of Minster Lovell Hall, nr witney, Oxfordshire.

It gave me the opportunity of trying out high-speed sync flash using Pocket Wizards, speedlites and the Damien Lovegrove Lovecube.

I feel this was a big step forward for me as I was able to put into practice all the theory I have learnt in the past few months. With some success aswell.

Testimonials

2010-04-30T14:57:00.002+01:00

Having received some wonderful testimonials from clients recently, I have decided to add a special page to my website, entitled Testimonials, to showcase them.

I am looking forward to expanding this section (hint! hint!).

New Facebook Page

2010-04-28T11:50:00.005+01:00

Today, sees the launch of the dedicated Dave Gilkes Photography facebook page.

This new page is designed to promote my business and raise my business profile. I have uploaded a selection of images and in the future, this page will become more active.

Visit http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Dave-Gilkes-Photography/118722504813955?ref=sgm for details.

Business Link

2010-04-27T14:13:00.003+01:00

I have just returned from a rather good morning attending a workshop with Business Link.

The workshop concerned internet marketing techniques and having picked up some rather good tips, will start implementing them from today.

Hopefully, this should start to attract more like-minded customers and business in the forthcoming years.

If anyone is thinking of attending a Business Link workshop, then I can highly recommend them. I learnt a lot more than I thought I would as, I was a little sceptical of attending at first. Really glad I did though.

Recent Photos

2010-04-12T11:51:00.005+01:00

I attended the Adam Duckworth Advanced Lighting Techniques workshop at The Flash Centre in Birmingham recently and thought it was about time I posted some of the images.

Katie Green modelled for the day and ensured I came away with some excellent images.

Model shoot with Tinna

2010-03-13T17:59:00.002Z

Lovegrove LoveCube

2010-03-12T16:58:00.002Z

I have recently purchased the Lovegrove LoveCube as a prop to be used for portrait sessions.

This excellent prop is strong enough to allow people to sit on safely and permits the use of either a mains light or, flashgun to be placed inside for effect.

I will be using this tomorrow for the first time and will post images accordingly.

EPS Promotion

2010-02-19T17:12:00.004Z

Images for the forthcoming Event Photographer Society Promotion event.

Website revamp complete

2010-02-11T17:03:00.002Z

Have spent the past two days working through a website revamp and I am really happy with it now.

I have gone for a more classic approach and hope it will attract the kind of customers I wish to work for.

DE Photo

2010-02-06T14:18:00.002Z

I will be freelancing for DE Photo tomorrow at Warwick School.

We will be photographing a rugby tournament which, as past experiences have proven, will be a full-bloodied event with, some excellent ball handling and tackling skills on display.

I hope the rain holds off.

New Website

2010-02-05T16:04:00.001Z

Today, sees the launch of my new website.

I have updated the layout and the template for a more stylish images for 2010.

Hope you like it?

Model shoot today with Tina

2010-01-23T21:46:00.004Z

A selection of images from today's shoot with the fabulous Tina.

Images taken at J & D Photography Studios in Northampton.

Pocket Wizards

2010-01-20T09:53:00.003Z

I purchased a set of Pocket Wizards over the Christmas period, after months of research into wireless triggers.

My main reason for deciding to buy these is, they will help me to create the very stylized images I have been looking to produce.

By permitting very high shutter speeds and long distances between devices, I can place my remote camera and flashes anywhere within my shooting location and trigger them reliably. This will allow me greater creativity and freedom of expression.

I will be using them this weekend, for my first real photo shoot and will post a selection of images next week.

Remembrance Sunday in Banbury

2009-11-08T14:17:00.006Z

Model Shoot

2009-11-07T21:25:00.004Z

I undertook my first model shoot for two years today with Sharon and am delighted with the images.

Plan a Safe Escape

2009-10-17T10:51:00.003+01:00

I was commissioned by the Fire Fighters Charity to cover their Plan a Safe Escape event on Wednesday, where they teach young children how to plan a safe escape route from their home in the event of a fire.

Sunsets

2009-10-12T19:00:00.004+01:00

Saw this sunset tonight, so grabbed my camera and took a few shots.

Exposure -1 stop and contrast boosted a little in Lightroom.

Banbury 15 Vipers 14 3rd October 2009

2009-10-03T18:34:00.007+01:00

Images from a good close game today, resulting in a home win for Banbury Bulls 15-14 against Vipers.

In the company of wolves

2009-10-01T09:48:00.003+01:00

Had a free day so went through some old images and found the European and North American wolves I photographed a few years ago at a private farm in Berkshire.

Further experiments with smoke trails

2009-09-08T19:04:00.002+01:00

Nothing on today so tried photographing more smoke trails. Pleased with the results so far.

2009/10 Rugby Season

2009-09-08T11:44:00.004+01:00

Well, the new season officially starts on Saturday 12th September 2009 but, as a warm up game, the Banbury Bulls RUFC played at home last Saturday in a friendly against Effingham and Leatherhead.

Banbury won 25-3 which flatters them somewhat as, the game was much closer than the score line suggests.

My New Corporate Logo

2009-09-03T14:51:00.007+01:00

Whilst I was creating images using smoke, I created this and loved it so much, decided I would use this as my logo.

I have been trying to create a logo for some time now, without success but, felt this was just what I was looking for.

More Smoke Trail Trials

2009-08-29T16:29:00.002+01:00

I think I am finally getting the hang of this now.

Smoke Trails

2009-08-28T15:24:00.006+01:00

Having a quiet day today so I thought I would try my hand at photographing smoke trails using incense sticks.

Very simple set up of black backround and one flashgun. Quite like the results so far:

More to follow.

Net-Models and Model Mayhem

2009-08-22T15:13:00.004+01:00

I have recently joined these two networking websites as, I wish to expand my career to include model portfolios and as there are numerous local models registered with them, I am looking forward to working with other creative professionals.

I feel this is the next step of my career and will, hopefully, propel my development forward and help me obtain great networking and work opportunities.

Banbury RUFC vs Alchester

2009-08-22T15:10:00.005+01:00

This friendly match was unfortunately cancelled so, I am unable to display the match images. It is such a beautiful day aswell.

I am looking forward to the start of the new season where I can, hopefully, attend more matches than I could last year, provide images to the local newspapers and gain more exposure in my local community.

I started my career at the Banbury RUFC by, photographing their home and away matches whilst I was studying to become a photographer. This quickly led to me becoming their club photographer and I feel that I lost some ground in local exposure by, not being able to attend many matches last year.

Although my local newspaper, the Banbury Guardian, does not pay for the images, I feel the publicity is beneficial to both the club and my career.

British Institute of Professional Photography

2009-07-29T14:51:00.004+01:00

I have recently joined this fabulous organisation and am working towards obtaining my Licentiate which, is their first qualification level.

I sent a disk of 10 sporting images for review and the feedback has been exceptionally encouraging. 7 of the images were described as exceptional.

I am now working towards making another disk with a total of 20 images on as, this is the number required for the Liceniate Panel and will, hopefully, receive more encouraging feedback.

I aim to get my Licentiate before the end of this year although, event work is now drying up and with August being completely free so far, this will make the process harder.

Water Droplets

2009-06-14T19:25:00.009+01:00

I have always loved images of water droplets but, to date, I have never attempted tp photograph any so, as my scheduled work was cancelled, I spent this afternoon in my new studio seeing what I could do.

I used two flashguns on 1/16 power to light a yellow background and after placing a blue paper sheet underneath the water tray, I set a shutter speed of 1/250sec and an aperture of F16.

Above are the best images:

Morgan Ashurst Road Race cancelled

2009-06-10T14:49:00.003+01:00

Unfortunately, due to the amount of rain we received this weekend, this road race had to be cancelled for safety reasons.

New Samples available for viewing

2009-05-26T18:46:00.002+01:00

Today, I received two prints of images I have had produced into a Box Frame and a Gallery Print which, I will use both as samples for my clients to view and as decorations for my home.

I had these made at Loxley Colour in Glasgow and they are amazing. I am delighted with the quality of the image reproduction and construction.

These are two new products I have decided to offer this year and. The Box Frame is 20x16" and the Gallery Print is 30x20" and both look stunning hung on the wall.

I have used Loxley Colour exclusively for the past two years and cannot recommend them enough. If you are looking for a professonal photo lab to produce a wide range of products at the highest possible quality, then visit Loxley at www.loxleycolour.co.uk

First images added to Client Area

2009-05-18T20:55:00.004+01:00

I have added two collections of images in my new Client Area, they are the Banbury Star K4/20K Time Trial and the Banbury Colts RUFC.

I have also added new products and made the process of purchasing easier for my clients.

Client Area

2009-05-15T18:32:00.002+01:00

I have added a new section to my website called Client Area today.

This new section adds extra facilities to my site including:

A new sales area which makes the process of purchasing prints and frames easier
The ability to password protect certain galleries when the need arises
The ability to upload new images to my site in bulk, therefore, speeding up the whole process of making images available for sale
More variety of products available such as, framed prints, box frames and gallery prints
Extra space for more images

I believe this gives my site a more professional approach and a better experience for my clients.

DE Photo

2009-05-14T13:44:00.004+01:00

I have been working for DE Photo for the past two weeks on a freelance basis covering football tournaments, hence, my lack of activity on here.

I will be photographing more cycling time trials in the next couple of weeks so will update my blog then.

Post Production

2009-04-23T11:33:00.007+01:00

I have been trying out some new post production techniques and thought I would post the results here:

Banbury Star Solo 22nd April 2009

2009-04-20T12:30:00.005+01:00

I used this time trial to try a new technique.

I wanted to photograph the speed of the competitors and so, selected a fast section of the circuit and used a combination of camera panning, second-curtain sync and both on-camera and off-camera flash. Additionally, I also used a 24-70mm lens and positioned myself closer to the riders than I normally do.

This being my first attempt, it was very much a trial and error session. I set myself a target of a shutter speed of 1/100 sec and set my flashguns to light a particular section of the road with the aim to try and photograph the riders as they passed through this section.

The time trial lasted about one hour and I can honestly say that, having reviewed the images I captured, I need a lot more practice. However, I did come away with the knowledge of how to improve my technique. I need to stand further back or, choose a section of the race circuit that means the competitors are travelling at lower speeds as this will enable me to pan more accurately.

Here are a couple of the better images:

There is another time trial next week so, I will put my new found knowledge to use and hope to improve.

Banbury Star Solo 15th April 2009

2009-04-20T12:18:00.006+01:00

I covered this cycling time trial last week as a tester for the season ahead and thought I would post some images.

I will be covering more cycling events this year and have already been confirmed by the Banbury Star Cycling Club as the official photographer for the forthcoming Morgan Ashurst Road Race on 7th June 2009. This will be my third time of covering this exciting event.